Cerebral Venous Thrombosis in Children

Cerebral venous thrombosis is an important cause of stroke in children. Understanding the natural history of the disease is essential for rational application of new interventions. We retrospectively identified 31 children with cerebral venous thrombosis confirmed by head computed tomography (4 patients) or by magnetic resonance imaging (27 patients). Risk factors, clinical and radiographic features, and neurologic outcomes were analyzed. There were 21 males and 10 females aged 1 day to 13 years (median 14 days). Nineteen (61%) were neonates. The most common risk factors included mastoiditis, persistent pulmonary hypertension, cardiac malformation, and dehydration. The chief clinical features were seizures, fever, respiratory distress, and lethargy. Fifteen patients had infarctions (8 hemorrhagic, 7 ischemic). Protein C and antithrombin III deficiency were the most common coagulopathies among 14 tested patients. On discharge, 11 patients were normal, 17 had residual deficits, and 2 patients died. Twenty-seven patients were followed from 1 month to 12 years (mean 22 months). At follow-up, 11 patients were normal, and 13 patients had development delay. One had residual hemiparesis and cortical visual impairment. Two had other deficits. Neonatal cerebral venous thrombosis is probably more common than previously thought, and outcomes are worse in this group. All children with cerebral venous thrombosis should be tested for coagulation disorders. (J Child Neurol 2001;16:574-580).